SAN FRANCISCO--Marketers convened here this week to figure out how best to reach teens on the Internet. The answer: It's all about the mobile phone.
Advertisers are clamoring to reach teens in digital environments because that's where they're spending much of their time--either online, with cell phones or playing video games. What's more, teens wield an estimated $200 billion annually in discretionary spending.
Fuse, a marketing agency based in Vermont, talked in recent weeks to senior technology executives from companies such as Sony, MTV Networks, Yahoo, and Nokia to find out what the future of technology will look like for the teen market.
Among the predictions: Mobile phones in the United States will surpass the popularity of desktops for teens. Only an estimated 20 percent of teens currently own a smartphone such as the iPhone, but mobile phone and content companies are counting on the idea that smartphone adoption will spread fast among teens in middle America and other areas.
"The iPhone is just the beginning of the all-in-one device. Uses of mobile devices will expand to include all kinds of bar code applications and prepaid debit card payment methods," said Bill Carter, a partner at Fuse, who presented the findings here at the YPulse 2008 National Mashup, a two-day conference on teens and technology.
That's likely why geographic ad targeting to teens via the phone is expected to explode in the coming years. Right now, mobile phone providers analyze an estimated 4 billion Internet Protocol addresses to provide street-level targeting to consumers. Companies like U.K.-based Blyk, for example, are reaching teens through the phone with ads and information on nearby nightspots. Teens sign up for the service.
"When you combine this new technology with teens giving their permission to market to them, the growth could be exponential," Carter said.
But, he said, mobile phone providers likely won't succeed as the entertainment leaders for the phone, despite their efforts to sell ringtones, games, and music. Other companies like Apple, Google, and Yahoo will be more effective at "side-loading" the cell phone with services.
Case in point: Most teens download music to their iPod that's been ripped from a friend's collection as opposed to bought from the iTunes music store. "There's a natural gravitation to get content on a device that's different than the one the manufacturer intended," he said.
As a corollary, he said that most teens will eventually buy subscription-based music services, much like the cable TV model. He predicted that Apple's iTunes will offer an unlimited monthly download service for music. Mobile phone companies, too, will launch music subscriptions on the smartphone.
Another prognostication: Other technology platforms will save, not kill TV networks, Carter said. The analog-to-digital conversion will make it possible for teens to watch live TV on portable devices. The technology will help the television networks target programming to specific audiences, and that will buoy the cost of advertising, he said.
"The device is inconsequential compared to the content," he said.
LeapFrog's Didj gaming system.
(Credit: LeapFrog)A few months ago we got a preview of Leapfrog's new handheld learning/gaming systems, the Didj ($89.99) and Leapster 2 ($69.99)--and now they're officially available.
LeapFrog doesn't exactly bill the Didj as a Nintendo DS competitor, but the new device is geared toward 6- to 10-year-olds, an age bracket where the DS currently rules. Meanwhile, the Leapster 2 is targeted at even younger children.
The idea behind the Didj is to up the gaming and graphics ante while continuing to integrate the learning stuff that the company's known for. Those educational elements are starting to show up in a handful of DS games, but LeapFrog's giving the whole educational-gaming slant a harder spin to appeal to parents who would prefer to have their grade-schoolers graduate to something other than the DS.
While the Didj doesn't have a Wi-Fi connection like the DS, there's a whole online angle that LeapFrog's working with its LeapFrog Connect Application. The application lets children customize game content (the device connects via USB to both PCs and Macs).
According to LeapFrog's news release, "Players first select and personalize an avatar. Then they design the game, choosing background scenery, color schemes or music. Most important, parents and kids can then customize content, connecting gameplay with schoolwork. Multiplication hard to master? Kids can choose to be quizzed on the 6s, 7s and 8s tables. Spelling a stumbling block? Kids can create a custom spelling list from the 10,000-word database and practice for next week's test."
The Leapster 2 is also available now.
(Credit: LeapFrog)I saw an early build of the game that ships with Didj and the graphics are indeed--excuse the pun--a nice leap forward for LeapFrog. At launch, 9 games are available for the system, including SEGA's Sonic the Hedgehog, Nickelodeon's SpongeBob SquarePants: Fists of Foam, and Indiana Jones. Another premium title, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, is due out shortly. Didj games carry an MSRP of $29.99.
Here's a rehash of the Didj's key specs:
- Processor: 393 MHz Arm 9
- Display: 320x240 resolution
- One 24-bit 2D layer (no hardware acceleration)
- One 16-bit 3D layer
- One YUV video layer (no hardware acceleration)
- Graphics: API OpenGL ES 1.1--A reduced instruction set version of OpenGL for embedded systems
- Main RAM: 32 MB DDRI 131 MHz
- NAND Flash: 256MB for data storage/download content
- Media Cartridge: 64MB
- System Software: Brio--Firmware is built on an abstraction layer called Brio to make OS and hardware transparent to developers. This means all software must be ported to Brio to run on this device.
- Screen LCD: 3.2 inches, 16.7-Million Color TFT
Anybody think the Didj is a worthy DS competitor? And: Can it appeal to both parents and kids?
Update: This story was updated at 2:55 p.m. PDT to add comments from AT&T.
California's governor and attorney general are asking Internet service providers to help stop the dissemination of child pornography.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. issued a press release Friday asking Internet service providers in California to follow the lead of Verizon Communications, Time Warner Cable, and Sprint in "removing child pornography from existing servers and blocking channels" that disseminate the illegal material.
"Protecting the safety of our children must be a top priority, not just for government, but also for businesses with the direct power to reduce the ability to conduct illegal activity," they said in a joint letter to the California Internet Service Provider Association.
Earlier this month, Verizon, Time Warner, and Sprint announced an agreement with New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to purge their servers of existing child pornography and eliminate access to user groups that distribute child pornography.
Schwarzenegger and Brown said in their letter that it's important that ISPs in California take action that is similar to the steps Verizon, Time Warner, and Sprint have agreed to in New York. The Internet Service Provider Association is the largest association of Internet service providers in the country, representing more than 100 ISPs. These providers include small ISPs, as well as big ones such as AT&T and AOL.
"It is not enough for only a few Internet service providers to join the fight against online predators," the letter said. "Child pornography is not protected by the First Amendment, and distributing this material is illegal."
While no one disagrees that distributing child pornography is illegal, some civil liberty experts worry that the way in which ISPs will block access to it could limit free speech for people discussing and distributing perfectly legal content.
Verizon, Time Warner Cable, and Sprint have said they have no plans to actually block access to any Web sites. Instead, they plan to purge or erase any child pornography that has been cached in their servers. They also plan to limit or block access to some of their own Usenet or news groups, which can be used to disseminate this material.
For example, Time Warner Cable said it will cease to offer customers access to any Usenet newsgroups, a decision that will affect customers nationwide. Sprint said it would no longer offer any of the tens of thousands of alt.* Usenet newsgroups. Verizon's plan is to eliminate some "fairly broad newsgroup areas."
My colleague Declan McCullagh points out in a story he wrote following the New York announcement that this tactic will most likely silence thousands of legitimate user groups that use the alt.* hierarchy for Usenet discussions.
It's not surprising that the American Civil Liberties Union is opposed to this action. Barry Steinhardt, director of the ACLU's technology and liberty program, told CNET News.com in McCullagh's earlier article that service providers shouldn't be blocking wholesale sections of the Internet, including Usenet groups, because it could eliminate legitimate discussions. "That's taking a sledgehammer to an ant," he was quoted as saying.
Indeed, this could turn out to be a big issue as California's politicians try to push for similar action among other Internet service providers. Some large providers such as AOL stopped carrying Usenet, but AT&T still does.
AT&T said that it is already working to fight online child pornography. "AT&T has long-standing and established procedures for the removal of illegal child pornography from our servers, including servers that host newsgroups," said Marty Richter, a representative for AT&T. "Consistent with these procedures and federal and state statutes, when we receive a report of any illegal content being hosted on our servers and we have a good faith basis for concluding that the content is illegal, we will remove it."
More and more 2- to 6-year-olds are watching videos on YouTube. And even the most cautious parents could find it hard to stop their little ones from discovering clips in which Tickle Me Elmo kills Barney.
That's where Totlol.com comes in. The month-old Web site leaves it up to parents to moderate which YouTube videos their kids can see. Parents can join Totlol's community to pick and review YouTube videos that would be appropriate for 6-month-olds to 6-year-olds. They can also browse among the site's more than 1,000 videos of disco penguins, singing hippos, and leaping elephants--or about 42 hours of parent-approved content.
Ron Ilan, founder of Totlol, said he started building the site in March after YouTube released a new, advanced application protocol interface (API), which the site is based around. His impetus was to create a safe site for his 2-year-old son and 1-year-old daughter.
"I had to do something with my son while I was in front of the computer. It's every parent's new age problem," said Ilan, a longtime Web developer based in Vancouver, B.C. "I imagined that YouTube had a lot of good stuff. But I couldn't comfortably find it. You don't know what you're searching for."
Totlol is among a bevy of new Web sites that cater to toddlers. For example, KidZui, which launched earlier this year, vets YouTube videos for kids among a community of teachers to ensure that they're age appropriate, among other features. KidZui, which offers a downloadable application, recently lifted its monthly subscription fee in an effort to attract more parents and kids.
In contrast, Totlol is available directly online and looks like a cartoon-themed YouTube. Once parents join, they can search for child-friendly YouTube videos through an API-powered search engine. A search for "goat" via Totlol would yield similar results to one on YouTube. But once the parent found a kid-friendly clip, they would submit it to the community at large for approval. The API takes description video data from YouTube, but the parent can also add notes on why the video is either interesting or relevant to kids. After that, the video goes up for screening and a "certain number" of parents must approve the clip before it airs on the site.
The system isn't foolproof, but the majority of material that surfaces on Totlol is child-appropriate, Ilan said. The main sticking point, however, is that parents can disagree about what kind of content their child should be exposed to. For example, Ilan said that his 1-year-old daughter loves a video in which Elmo and Grover sing a Numa Numa song. In that video, Grover tells Elmo to shut up--an act that ruffles the feathers of some parents.
That's why Ilan is working on new tools that will let parents block videos they don't want their kids to see or play only what they like from a "favorites list."
"It's the Internet--people can decide to watch it or not. It's all in the area of opinion and culture. That's why we need better and better tools," he said.
Ilan started the business with his own money, and without a clear business plan. He's not yet sure how he will make money from the venture, but he is sure how he will not turn a profit.
"No ads while kids are watching," he said. "I think there are opportunities beyond that. Worst-case scenario: I won't be able to move it forward."
Two teenagers who posted a malicious "fire in the hole" prank on YouTube were slapped with a court order to post an apology on the same video-sharing site, according to a report in Florida Today.
The sentence, devised by the judge, prosecutors, and defense attorneys, was created to serve as a deterrent to what is viewed as a growing problem of youths filming malicious, or violent, acts and posting them online, in the hope of generating notoriety.
In this particular case, a 23-year-old Taco Bell employee was stationed at the drive-up window, when a car loaded with teenagers drove up. After taking their order and handing the group their drinks, the teens yelled "fire in the hole" and threw a 32-ounce soda at the employee as she handed them their change.
The employee initially thought it was a personal attack, until learning from customers that a video of the prank had been posted on YouTube. The employee then engaged in a little sleuthing and tracked down the teens.
From the YouTube video, she found the boys' MySpace pages, where they had bragged about the incident. While keeping her identity secret, she befriended the boys and confirmed that they were involved in the attack, according to the Florida Today report.
Using a phone book, she located the mother of one of the teens, who identified the others involved in the prank.
The driver, who threw the drink, and the teenager who filmed the attack were charged with two counts of battery and one count of criminal mischief, according to the report.
As part of their sentence, the teens had to write, film, and post their video apology on YouTube, as well as pay $30 to clean the restaurant and serve 100 hours of community service.
You'd think Disney or the Cartoon Network would lure the most 2- to 11-year-olds scouting for video on the Internet. But the honors actually go to YouTube, with clips of Bugs Bunny, trains, and puppies (mixed in with "Twitter whores" and frat parties).
According to a new study from Nielsen Online, the largest number of tykes and preteens go to YouTube for video (or 4.1 million viewers aged 2 to 11), followed by the Disneychannel.com at a distant second, with 1.3 million viewers in that age bracket for the month of April. MySpace.com, NickJr, and Google Video also showed up on that list.
Their habits could signal TV's future. On average, the kids watched 51 video streams from home during April, spending almost two hours on video clips. That usage outstrips the average of nearly 75 million adults who regularly view video clips at sites like ESPN.com and CNN.com. On average in April, adults of voting age watched 44 video streams, for about 1 hour and 40 minutes of their time.
As you might expect, teens between the ages of 12 and 17 spent the most time with video in April, more than 2 hours worth; and they watched the most streams of all age groups (an average of 74 per person). Slightly disturbing, the site with the highest concentration of 12- to 17-year-olds, or 44 percent of this age group, was Stickam.com, a hub for live Webcams of people in their bedrooms. Atlantic Records and Epic Records were runners-up in that category.
But YouTube trumps all video usage among 2-year-olds, teens, and adults. In April, more than 73 million people watched as many 4 billion video clips on the Google-owned video-sharing site. That's more video streams than the combined volume of Fox Interactive Media, Yahoo, Nickelodeon Kids, MSN, ESPN, Disney, and CNN--the runners-up in the category of top video brands.
If YouTube wanted to keep its competitive edge with preschoolers and their parents, it could launch a kid-safe version of its site that filters out all those risque clips of Barbie and death threats to Elmo.
Lawmakers and Internet executives are perking up to the growing problem of kid bully fights on the Web.
Legislators are newly arming themselves with laws that will protect kids from being repeatedly harassed via the Internet, text messages, or other electronic devices. In recent weeks, Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.) and Rep. Kenny Hulshof (R-Mo.) proposed a federal law that would criminalize acts of so-called cyberbullying (PDF). And Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt was scheduled Friday to sign into state law a similar measure, but the event was postponed because of inclement weather in St. Louis.
Both state and federal laws were prompted by the suicide of Missouri 13-year-old Megan Meier, who was the victim of repeated harassment on MySpace.com. An adult neighbor was indicted in the case last month by a grand jury in Los Angeles not on charges of cyberbullying, but on charges of unauthorized access of a computer system with intent to harm another person. (Missouri litigators said they didn't have a law to prosecute the case at the time.)
The case has raised national awareness around the issue of cyberbullying.
"When you see adults preying on kids, we're learning how significant the risks are," said Parry Aftab, an attorney and founder of the nonprofit advocacy group Wired Safety.
Parents, teens, teachers, and Internet executives also came together this week to hash out issues of digital fights at Wired Safety's International Stop Cyberbullying Conference, a two-day gathering in White Plains, N.Y., and New York City. Executives from Facebook, Verizon, MySpace, Microsoft, and many others talked with hundreds of teens and parents about how to better protect kids online from harassment.
In general, the conversation among these groups is moving from a focus solely on sexual predators to the everyday harm that kids can inflict on each other in chat rooms, social networks, virtual worlds, or via text message. Researchers say that anywhere from 40 percent to 85 percent of kids have been exposed to some kind of digital bullying, whether it's a stolen password or being called "fat" via instant message.
Even in adult-monitored virtual worlds for kids, children have been known to get around dictionary controls by naming a virtual room after a peer that he or she wants to ridicule, e.g., "Mary is fat." And while calling someone "fat" is not a crime, parents and legislators are trying to prevent the behavior before it leads to tragedies like Meier's.
"It used to be that adults would pooh-pooh bullying as a phase, but we're seeing increasing violent actions resulting from it," Sanchez said in an interview.
"The problem with cyberbullying is that kids aren't even safe in their own home, because they're being harassed through the computer or cell phones 24/7 potentially," she said.
Lawmakers are seeking to address cyberbullying with new legislation because there's currently no specific law on the books that deals with it. A fairly new federal cyberstalking law might address such acts, according to Aftab, but no one has been prosecuted under it yet. The proposed federal law would make it illegal to use electronic means to "coerce, intimidate, harass or cause other substantial emotional distress."
When signed, the Missouri state law will update existing regulations on harassment and stalking to include instances of those acts over the Internet, text message, or other electronic device. It will make cyberbullying punishable by up to four years in jail.
Stopping harassment
This week at an Internet conference, Scott Arpajan, founder of kids' virtual world Dizzywood, backed up this notion. He said that more than sexual predators, the company needs to watch out for cyberbullying in its growing community of 8 to 14 year olds. Dizzywood hires outside moderators to keep an eye on interactions among children.
"The biggest thing is keeping kids from getting in fights," Arpajan said.
Middle-school kids and teens said this week that they want more technology and response from adults and Internet companies when it comes to these issues, according to Aftab. At the conference, which hosted as many as 200 teens, kids said they want to be able to report instances of cyberbullying online and not have them "go into a black hole." Teens also said that they want Web sites to write easy-to-understand terms of service and privacy policies. That could mean creating policies that are animated or graphical.
To the consumer electronics industry: The teens also said they want new and better tools to stop harassment on cell phones. That would include buddy lists that block anyone besides approved senders from reaching their text message in-box.
As for the industry, more groups are creating Internet safety programs for K-12 kids that address bullying. Microsoft, for example, is sponsoring the Anti-Defamation League's program to train teachers, students, and parents on how to stop cyberbullying. Google also recently sponsored an Internet safety guide from Common Sense Media.
Sites like MyYearBook and Facebook have hosted pages that call on teens to pledge against cyberfighting, in honor of Meier. Wired Safety's group of teen Internet safety volunteers put a page on MyYearBook and there's a similar page on Facebook.
Tina Meier, the mother of Megan, said that change has to start with the kids, but parents need to talk more to their children. "The biggest thing I tell parents is to communicate and know what's going on with their child. They have to know what apps they're using and be on those sites," Meier said.
Students at one Missouri university don't just have to take surprise quizzes on economics, chemistry, or Spanish these days. They also get pop quizzes on digital copyright law. The online test aims to prevent piracy and violation of copyright laws, and if students want access to peer-to-peer file sharing, they have to ace it.
According to an Associated Press report, the Missouri University of Science and Technology now requires students to correctly answer six questions about digital copyright law before they can use peer-to-peer tools. If they pass the test, they get six hours of access to the software.
Students are limited to eight monthly stints (of six hours consecutive each) with peer-to-peer software during the academic year, and they must take the test each time they want to use it. The school, located in Rolla, Mo., near the Ozarks, introduced the test as an alternative to taking away access to peer-to-peer file sharing from students and faculty.
A fear of lawsuits from the recording industry has prompted many schools to suspend access altogether. In November, Congress began pushing schools receiving federal funding to develop alternatives--such as subscription-based services or technology-based deterrents--to prevent students from engaging in copyright violations and piracy.
In May, a new law passed in Tennessee requiring any higher-education institution in the state to develop and enforce a policy that prohibits its students from committing copyright infringement.
Tim Doty, Missouri S&T campus systems security analyst, told the AP that the school still wanted to allow peer-to-peer access, "but in a controlled fashion. We're providing them the information to make an informed decision."
Doty said the pre-access quiz appears to be the first such test on a U.S. campus, and he says it cut complaints from the recording industry from 200 during the 2006-2007 school year to a mere eight in the school year just wrapping up.
Unlike regular school quizzes, once students pass this one, it's not the end of the story. If Missouri S&T students don't follow the copyright rules, they can lose their Internet privileges or be reprimanded with fines, community service, research projects, or even suspension.
Computer companies are pushing to swap the violence in video games with messages of social change.
Next week, Advanced Micro Devices plans to announce a project designed to teach kids how to build video games that promote social causes such as fighting poverty or protecting the environment. Called Changing the Game, the project will fund nonprofit organizations that inspire kids with video games, and it will develop curriculum for youth to build their own software for games. Changing the Game is the first initiative funded by the chipmaker's newly formed AMD Foundation, a grant-making organization.
At the same time next week, Microsoft will show off the first of the environmental education games developed by high school and college kids participating in Microsoft's Imagine Cup, a global competition around software for social change. (The Imagine Cup winners will be announced in Paris in July.)
Why the coincidence? The two companies are participating in the fifth annual Games for Change Festival next week at the Parsons The New School for Design. The 4-year-old nonprofit Games for Change gets support for its conference from Microsoft and AMD.
Of course, both companies have a stake in the video game business. AMD's technology powers high-definition game consoles, and Microsoft sells the Xbox 360 and related games. As part of its competition, for example, Microsoft asked students to use the company's XNA Games Studio Software to develop a socially minded computer or Xbox game.
Still, it's for a worthy cause. "We have a tremendous opportunity to harness the passion that kids have for gaming while teaching the skills they need to be successful in our 21st century digital economy," AMD president Dirk Meyer said in a statement.
As part of its initiative, the AMD Foundation plans to grant money to Girlstart, an Austin-based nonprofit focused on girls; Global Kids, a New York-based nonprofit; the D.C.-based Institute for Urban Game Design; and Science Buddies, a Silicon Valley-based group for kids in science.
Forget Wii parties. Wii-habilitation is where it's at.
The popular Nintendo device for playing games like virtual bowling or tennis has turned into a rehab tool at cutting-edge health care centers around the country. And now researchers at the University of South Carolina are turning the trend into a research project that will study exactly how well the Wii and other games can help stroke victims recover motor skills and overcome a fear of falling after their trauma.
The research is part of a new $2 million grant from philanthropic group the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which will be administered by the University of California Santa Barbara's Health Games Research Center. On Thursday, the two organizations announced that 12 different research projects, including USC's Wii project, will receive funding of up to $200,000 each to study how interactive games can be used to improve public health and the health care profession. The studies will last between one to two years.
"We're trying to find positive ways to use video games," Debra Lieberman, director of the Health Games Research Center, said during a press conference Thursday. "A 'good' game, which help people learn methods of self-improvement, could displace more time-wasting games out there."
The Health Games Research Center was funded about four years ago by an $8.25 million grant from RWJF's Pioneer Portfolio, and the new $2 million grant is the inaugural round of funding by RWJF to establish studies on interactive games for health. It will invest another $2 million on research projects beginning in January 2009.
Among the other research initiatives announced Thursday:
Cornell University's Department of Communication will test a cell-phone game called the Mindless Eating Challenge with a group of teens. The game uses virtual characters and nutrition tips to try to influence teens to eat right.
Indiana University's School of Health has created the Skeleton Chase, an alternative reality game that designed partly to help incoming college students fight the "freshman 15." The game, a mystery that unfolds over eight weeks through clues delivered via online and offline media, will promote physical activity and measure how college kids learn best--whether it's through competition or collaboration.
The University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts has developed Wellness Partners, a character-driven social mobile game for children and adults aged 12 to 44. The game, which combines social networking and caring for virtual pets, is designed to test how well people respond to a virtual support network when trying to form healthy lifestyle habits.
Union College's Department of Psychology will test senior citizens' "cyber-cycling," or exercising on a stationery bike with a networked 3D screen. The virtual environment lets the over 50 set compete with peers.
The University of Central Florida's College of Medicine will examine whether virtual world role-playing games can influence the recovery of former alcohol abusers.
The University of Florida's College of Public Health will study whether action-adventure games like Playstation 2's Crazy Taxi can improve senior citizen's visual attention skills. Will it help them drive better, for example?
As part of the Wii project, the University of South Carolina will compare the effects of Nintendo's device to EyeToy, a camera-based game that monitors players movements while they virtually clean windows or pop bubbles.
"The neat thing about a game is that it involves challenges to meet a goal. We take great pleasure (in that)" Lieberman said. "Stroke victims work harder. These are new ways to offer rehabilitation."
